Customer Reviews

TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball (Two-Disc Set)

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Anyone who grew up in the 1960s and especially the 1970s has probably played a game of pinball at least once in their lives. At its core is a simple game of hitting a little ball with a couple of paddles controlled by two buttons but it also requires a certain amount of skill and hand-eye coordination to keep the ball in play and rack up as large a score as possible with three balls. Tilt: The Battle to Save Pinball documents the demise of Chicago-based Williams' pinball division which, at one point, controlled 80% of the market.

Tilt traces the development of a pinball machine that would take the medium into the 21st century and how it succeeded and failed with legends from the industry and from within Williams telling the story. It also takes us step-by-step through how a game is designed, from initial concept to the finished product. Ultimately, bad timing and licensing the wrong franchise (Star Wars: Episode 1) killed off this new kind of pinball game before it had a chance to grow. Maletic tells a fascinating if not tragic story about the end of an era that is accessible to the casual fan as well as the diehard gamer.

The first disc features an audio commentary by the film's director Greg Maletic. He says that he wanted to make this film accessible to non-pinball fans. He talks about various aspects like the opening credits and the music (inspired by Les Baxter). Maletic cites the Robert Evans documentary, The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002) as the primary influence on his own. Like that film, his has a definite bias. Maletic makes some good observations on this decent track.

The second disc features a staggering six hours of deleted scenes organized in the follow fashion:

"Highlights" allows you to view the best bits of the documentary without having to watch the whole thing in the form of easily digestible soundbites.

"Inside Pinball" features two segments that explain the evolution of pinball and how a machine is designed and assembled in more detail.

"Inside Pinball 2000" features a more detailed look at its origins, how it was made, marketed, and how it failed.

"Inside Williams" features more stories about this company including the demise of its pinball division and a tour of the factory in 1999 as they were assembling the Star Wars: Episode I machine.

"Inside the Industry" takes a more in-depth look at the pinball industry including the boom and bust of the 1990s. There are longer interviews with legends Steve Kordek (who designed nearly 100 machines) and Larry DeMar (who designed the video game Defender and the pinball game Black Knight).

"Lost Machines" takes a fascinating look at obscurities like Bally's Pinball Circus, Wizard Blocks and Playboy, machines that for whatever reason were unreleased with only one or two in existence. There is footage of these machines in action.

"Tributes" features pinball designers giving shout-outs to their contemporaries and mentors as they talk about who they admire in the business.

"Expo Speech" features footage of game designer George Gomez speaking at Pinball Expo in October 1999 about Pinball 2000 with a Q&A session afterwards. This speech was made three days before Williams shutdown their pinball division and Gomez was aware of this going up to speak.

"Cast Discussion" features audio of various designers talking about a wide variety of topics like Sega Pinball, the shutdown of Williams' pinball division, industry repercussions, and so on.

Also included are "Graphs and Statistics" of pinball machines sold, sales, etc.

Finally, "About Tilt" includes a featurette about the special effects used in the film and a trailer.

Absolutlely fascinating documentary about the Pinball 2000 Williams pinball machine. By no means essential that you are 'into' pinball to enjoy it either. Interviews are well cut with footage and images.

Of special note are the excellent production values throughout - I was really expecting something far less polished than this. The 2DVD set is packed with extras too. Apparently 6hours of 'em! I am yet to watch them all, but the 60 minute feature itself is worth the price of the DVD - so why wait?



Incidentally I'd also suggest 'Once Upon Atari' (Howard Scott Warshaw's documentary) if independent films about old electronic games companies are your thing - equally fascinating but much more homemade looking.

I bought the TILT double disc set when I first heard about it coming out! The movie is entertaining and informative. The majority of interviews are from people with a large backgrounds in the Pinball and video gaming industry. The bulk of things revolve around the making of one particular machine but there is much covered here. Upon first viewing you may not realize all of the visual effects that were put in the movie by the filmmakers. On the 2nd disc you can see how the filmmakers went into photos to manipulate 'em and animate them. Pretty neat!

The budget is low, but the subject matter is fascinating. The interviews are entertaining and informative. There is so much information here on pinball development and the demise of a giant pinball company. I have watched it several times and am still finding new and interesting tid bits. If you are at all interested in the history and business of pinball, you need to buy this DVD.

"Tilt: The Battle to Save Pinball" is a great documentary for anyone who is sorry to see the almost-complete-demise of the pinball industry. Pinball 2000's two 3D games "Revenge from Mars" and "Star Wars" were light-years ahead of any pinball machines ever made before them. The 3D effect made the games simply amazing. Whoever played 3D pinball before??? This could have been the start of a whole new generation of
pinball machines, but not so. It's a shame the public didn't realize what they were essentially ignoring, causing the industry to suffer and, in effect, abruptly ending Pinball 2000. I would love to have had a chance to play the unreleased "Circus" table. I can only hope that someday pinball will make a comeback and in a way that will introduce the young people of tomorrow to an incredible form of non-threatening, non-violent, friendly entertainment. The 2-disc dvd set is loaded with extras and behind-the-scenes video. It gives the viewer a sense of the amount of time, energy, labor, and brain-power, that goes into designing a quarter-eating machine of bells and whistles. Nice artwork on the dvd case too.

This expertly crafted documentary is a must for anyone who has either loved playing Pinball, or worked in the Coin Amusement Industry. With a behind the scenes look at the manufacturing process, along with a glimpse at never released prototypes, the behind the scenes on the making of what would become Williams last pinball machine was educational and saddening. In what has become nothing but a bunch of lines of code for players playing games today, Tilt offers a look back to a simplier time and unfortunately the end of an era. This documentary is a must own for any pinball fan! My only regret was that it wasn't longer. I didn't want it to end! Don't miss it!